BASIC RESEARCH REPORT

Number 98.4, May 1998

Deadly Rounds:
Ammunition and Armed Conflict

By Rachel J. Stohl

Executive Summary

There is an old adage that without ammunition, guns would be simply metal clubs. Most of the policy work to date has focused on guns rather than ammunition, and the killing has not abated. Limiting and regulating ammunition transfers is a viable approach that could control conflict and reduce killing. In this paper, ammunition is examined in order to complement recent discussions by government officials, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the international community as a whole. This study suggests that ammunition control is a new way to fight an old problem.

In order to present more specific policy options, this paper will discuss small arms ammunition, defined as ammunition with cartridges of caliber 15.5 mm or less, or ammunition that can be used in handguns, rifles (including semi-automatic and automatic assault rifles), and machine guns. Ammunition not only refers to the cartridge or round used in a weapon, but means the four parts that make up an ammunition cartridge: the case, propellant, primer, and bullet. The shelf-life and rate of expenditure of ammunition are significant to understanding the complex nature of ammunition.

An inverse pyramid can explain the ammunition industry as a whole. The greatest number of companies produce the bullets, a smaller number make the cases, still fewer make the propellant (powder), and the fewest make the explosive primer. Worldwide, over 150 major companies assemble these components and produce cartridges for military ammunition (see Appendix). The majority of the world's ammunition is supplied by the West, with the United States holding some of the largest production capabilities. However, since the end of the Cold War, this trend has begun to change and Eastern European and Russian sources have become more heavily involved in the ammunition trade. Additionally, the developing world has, to a growing degree, become more involved in ammunition production, and new plants have opened to provide for regional ammunition needs (see Eldoret Case Study).

Much of the ammunition used in the world's regional conflicts and civil wars follows the same trade and smuggling routes as both the weapons in which it is used and other illegal goods. Only on rare occasions is the ammunition transferred independently of weapons. The proliferation and acquisition of weapons and ammunition is of great concern in many regions throughout the world, including Africa, Latin America, South Asia, Central Asia, and Southern Europe. These regions represent a majority of the areas in which weapons and ammunition flows have a great opportunity to refuel previous conflicts, prolong current conflicts, exacerbate tense situations, or contribute to continued violence and crime.

Although not often mentioned in traditional arms control debates, ammunition control is increasingly addressed as a viable part of disarmament, demobilization, and peace-building. Varying strategies that address the illicit flow of ammunition already exist. Some countries have targeted legislation against particular ethnic or national groups, others have looked at the black market, and still others have focused on legal transfers by proposing regulations based on regional or international codes of conduct.

Recommendations
There is a broad range of measures which states, regions, and the international community can undertake to address the problems that arise from ammunition. Many of these ideas can be implemented immediately, although future studies need to be undertaken by the NGO community, United Nations, and scholars to expand the knowledge of ammunition's effects on conflict.

• Destruction must be viewed as an essential part of dealing with surplus ammunition.

• New ammunition control initiatives should be explored, including control strategies that have a multilateral and/or regional focus, and are tied to weapons control issues.

• Transparency of ammunition imports and exports must be encouraged through extensive record keeping and regulation of imports and exports, perhaps as part of a new arms register addressing small arms and light weapons.

• New methods of identifying and marking ammunition and tagging propellant powder should be addressed.

• Fieldwork needs to be undertaken to examine trade routes, modes of ammunition transfers, supply networks, prices, and price elasticity arrangements.

Future Studies
There are various other components of the ammunition problem that also merit future study.

• Control issues should be explored, including regional initiatives, law enforcement cooperation, and innovations; various new control methods, such as controls of primer production, also should be examined.

• Technical questions, which examine the transporting and tracing of ammunition shipments, also provide an avenue for research.

• Contextual questions, which probe the effects of regional, sub-regional, and international actors on ammunition supply and re-supply, are important to understanding the global scope of the ammunition problem.

• Environmental questions, which deal with the detection and externalities of ammunition production and stockpiles, should be examined.

For the full text of Deadly Rounds: Ammunition and Armed Conflict, email BASIC or order a copy from here.

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